Tulane kicker Cairo Santos has been cleared by the NCAA to play against Houston on Saturday.

Out of St. Joseph's Academy high school in St. Augustine, Fla., Santos initially was approved by the NCAA clearinghouse for athletic eligibility. But when he scored an eight-point jump from the first to the last time he took the ACT, the testing center notified the NCAA, an automatic reaction to the extreme improvement.

He played in the team's first two games against Southeastern Louisiana and Ole Miss. Tulane had an open date last week.